Lever actuated tube bending hand tool



Dec. 30, 1952 A. J. SHILEY 2,623,425

LEVER ACTUATED TUBE BENDING HAND TOOL Filed Oct. 29, 1948 2SHEETS--SHEET 1 I NVENTOR mam J. shile y Zliiy ma 5 2 R M 2 T. m i & E wm w W} 6, mm 2 m m w s 2 A. J. SHILEY LEVER ACTUATED TUBE BENDING HANDTOOL.

Dec. 30, 1952 Flled Oct 29 1948 Patented Dec. 30, 1952 I LLEIZER'IACTUATED 'liTUBEFBENDIN G la-HAND TOOL DIOVidS a device of ethis'cha-racterte specially adapted for bending hard :metaltubingwpartic-.aularly .hard copper 1 tubing. I IBeause of the difi ficulty' usuallyattending the -Ibending" of hard ucopper tubing and the cracking,rupture-:split- -tingor m-alformations often resulting from v thebending operations it has been the general prac- :tice'to secureelbows'of variousshapes, nipples wand the like, to the ends ofadjoining; lengths ":of straightatubing' sections. By the zuseof myL-bending machine or 'device, the above-mentioned iiextra parts-end itheworkv necessary forimek- 'ing the-gioints can "be dispensed-with and the'zpossibility of i many le'aks eliminated.

".Another object aof this 1invention-vis to 5pm- 'rxiide' ancexcee'dingly" simple and effectivedevice :icof 1the'el'larectermentioned WhiGhTdlSOlWill nbfl L ficompact and :relativelylight in weightwhereby titi maykbe readily: carried in a' -mechanicstool .LAnother' object of 'the present invention :is to 1 :construct'atubingibender including :an eccentric .1ichanneledisegment:dieearriedbya framehaving wachan-dle and aifootapiece detachably' connected I:thereto land-"a rgrooved 'rroller movable 1in.a .t'rue v i de auniquezmea'ns' for taking; .uptany sidewise P stress on the operating;handle :to-mrevent :dam. "E5 to 1 the I several parts Jduring'airibendin'grop'ercation.

A still further 'object of I the inventi'on: is to' provide a simple andreflective clamp tor hdldthe tubingin the segmentalw' i With the aboveand "other objectsl i View this invention consists of the detailso'fconstruetion and combination of *elements" -'hereina'fter "set-forth andthen' designated by I the claims.

In'order thatthose skilled in the art-to which "Lthis inventionappertains may understand how itdmakeand use the same I will lidesei-ibeits Fig. 1"is a side view of the lever actuated" tube ibending "handtool 'With'parts of the 'haridles and foot-piecebrokenoff and showingthe ele- 'ments in one position in elevation "andil-lustrats ings-someor them in other positions a inldotted t lines. Fig? 2 I is an :edgewiew thereofilooking'itowards xcthe bottom of Fig. I+and=thehan'dles'endl foob 5 pi'ecetrem'oved.

7mg.- 3 is':'an.-endview of the same -lookingwtoi wards :the left handside ofFigr land the handles in a separatedfposition'at.thecompletiontof a bendingv operation.

: Fig.'4 is an enlargedfragmentarysectional elevation on the lined-+4of-Fig. 1.

*:Eig. 5 is asimilar-view on the line 5-5 :of? Fig; 1. :Inwcarryingout-lmy invention 5315 herein em- 1 E bbdifi fl I flt represen'ts Ya.bar: or "standard,=prefer- 'a'zably' i having 5a Ii 'flatwintermediate?portion; with rthr'eadedrsockets :I I 'and I 2 a attopposi-te iends. A part s'or section 213 of isaiddntermediate portion jiaoblique to theend of the ba-r so' that-saidends 1' the sockets Ilsi'and I rare offset toione entoth'er and 'lie in i difierenthorizontal planes sas wshownrmfiiigi 1.

A grooved' segmentalr bendingnie I 4 'isr'secured at one side thereof,where there iisa webiliFigs. Ioand 5,1 tothe oblique; portion '1 3 ofthe' bar I0, y im'eans iof Pa "fastening device I 6; s1ich as: a ivety'and/or welding, leaving: the major portion Said"fbending "die I 4overhanging the axistiof ting :therefrom'rwhich:engages l the outened'ge fof he oblique'or'angman :portion :1 3 of lrthe fbar :1 0 ofurther as'sist' in'rholding thel die andi bar Itoether 'irrpropenrelation.

througlr an :enlargedportion or iihub i l i5 0: he

I 5 bar 5 I3, is pivotallyi-"mourited'z. a at lever 2 fliprovide'd witha threaded soeket'iz l **et its outer free end.

On 'the lever =20 is a trunnion iizfiin spaced alignment with the*periph'ery 0f the mending die. On the trunnion is irotatably' mounteda. rooved roller- 23 for coaction with i thebending ie 'when a Iworkpiece is I placed inithe latter. saidr oller is heldon the trunni'onand the outer :free=end"'of--" said trunnion is supported- W2:- abracket 24lh'aving' 'one end engaged wi'th't fsaid 'un'nionandtheoppositeend 'fix'ed to the lever zt somedistance' beyondtheitrunnion. I Because or the e'ccentric "formation'of thegrooved"'portion'of the'bending die; when the lever 20"is auja'cent thebar I0 the roller is spac'ed farther 'from' the perimeter of saidbending die than *-'when the l lever" is moved away from sai'd bar.

In other words, as the lever is actuated for a bending operation theroller gradually approaches closer to the bending die.

A latch is pivoted at one end to axle It adjacent the front face of thebending die I4 or on that side of said die opposite the location of thebar I!) and lever 26. The other or free end of said latch is providedwith a transverse notch 28 with its open end facing a direction opposedto the path of travel of the lever 29 as the latter is moved outwardlyor away from the bar H3 as during a bending operation. This latch 25 isadapted to be detachably connected to the outer end of the trunnion,outside of the bracket 24 and when in engagement with said trunnion tiestogether the shaft [8, said latch 25, the trunnion 22, the bracket 24and the lever 2i] and functions to bias any sidewise stresses upon saidlever 23 and thereby prevent bending thereof.

At one side of the bar l0, between the oblique portion I3 and the socketI l are a pair of spaced ears 2! and 28, the former projecting from aface of said bar, to which it may be welded, and

' the latter lying against the outer edge of said bar Ill and having anoffset 29 which extends around onto the face of the bar it opposite tothe one from which the ears project. lhe car 23 and its offset 2c arewelded to the bar ll.

Between the ears is pivoted the shank 3%) of the swinging clamp EH whichalso includes the enlarged clamping foot 32 having a transverselybeveled underneath surface 33. The swinging clamp is mounted on thepivot 3d fixed in the ears whereby said clamp oscillates laterallyrelative to the bending die across the perimeter of groovedcircumference adjacent the rear end thereof to clamp tubing in saidbending die.

In the socket i2 is screwed a foot-piece 35 which may be a short sectionof pipe or a nipple,

such as found among the pipe fittings used by plumbers and pipe fitters,and handles 35 and 31, probably sections of pipe, are screwed into the Hand 2|, respectively.

In practice, the foot-piece 35 and the handles 36 and 31 are removedfrom their respective sockets when the device is to be transported orstored and the several components then can be packed to occupy a smallspace, such as a workmans kit. When the apparatus is to be used forbending metal tubing, especially hard copper tubing, the foot-piece andhandles are assembled and said foot-piece mounted in a vise orequivalent holder or the terminal end of said foot-piece engaged upon asurface, such as a floor, with the tool in an inclined position. Toplace a section of tubing in the bending die, the lever is moved intothe starting location adjacent that part of the bar Iii provided withthe handle socket II, as shown in Fig. l, the latch 25 is thrown back,as indicated by dotted lines, and the clamp 3| swung outward. Thisprovides ready access to the grooved circumference of the bending die l4and permits a length of tubing to be placed in said bending die andadjusted properly for location of the bend desired. With the tubing inposition, the clamp 35 is swung into clamping position and the latch25-is caused to engage the trunnion 22. By grasping the handles andmoving the lever 28 away irornthe bar IE, the roller 23 will graduallyapproach the perimeter of the bending die as said roller moves in thearc of a true circle just outside of the circumference of the bendingdie, which is eccentric to shaft i8, thus smoothly forcing the tubing toassume the curvature of any desired portion of said bending die. As theopen end of the notch 26 in the latch 25 is opposed to the direction oftravel of the lever 28 during the bending operation, said latch cannot,under ordinary conditions, become disengaged from the trunnion, at leastuntil the lever movement is reversed. During the time the latch is inengagement with the trunnion said latch acts as a tie strap and willreduce to a minimum the likelihood of the lever being bent sidewise outof proper alignment.

Upon completion of the bending operation, the lever 25] is moved back toits normal position adjacent the bar It, which may leave the latch 25behind it, otherwise, said latch is moved away from the trunnion 22 andthe clamp 3! is swung outward thereby removing all obstructions to theready and easy release of the work.

Of course I do not Wish to be limited to the exact details ofconstruction herein shown and described as these may be varied withinthe scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is:

1. In a device of the kind described, a substantially iiat bar havingangularly offset end portions provided with sockets extending inparallel and opposite directions, one of said sockets constituting afoot socket and the other a handle socket, a segmental bending diehaving a groove in and extending throughout its perimeter, said bendingdie having one end imposed on one face of the bar and overhanging theprojected axis of the foot socket, means to secure said bending die tosaid bar, a flat lever imposed on the face of said bar opposite thebending die, an axle projected through the bending die, bar and lever inthe extended axis of the foot socket for pivoting said lever, the outerfree end of said lever curved towards and crossing an imaginaryextension of the handle socket of the bar when said lever is adjacentand substantially parallel to the handle end of said bar, a socket onthe outer end of said lever, the perimeter of said bending die beingeccentric to said axle, a trunnion on the lever spaced from the bendingdie and projecting from the inner face of said lever to overlie theperimeter of said bending die, a grooved roller journalled on saidtrunnion to cooperatively gradually approach the perimeter of thebending die as the lever is moved away from the bar, means to clamptubing in the bending die at the secured end thereof, a foot-pieceremovably mounted in the foot socket, and handles removably mounted inthe other sockets.

2. A metal tubing bender comprising a bar, foot and handle sockets atopposite ends of said bar to receive pipe sections to function as afootpiece and handle respectively, a segmental bending die secured atone of its ends to said bar intermediate the locations of the sockets,said die having a groove along its perimeter, a lever, means to pivotone end of the lever to the bending die, the opopsite free end of saidlever curved inwardly towards the bar and projecting beyond the axis ofthe handle socket outside of the end of the latter when said lever is inthe starting position of a bending operation, a socket on the faceend ofU116 lever to receive a pipe section acting as second handle, a groovedroller mounted on said lever in opposed relationship to the groove ofsaid bending die, a pair of ears projecting from the bar in a directionto overlie the perimeter of the bending die where the latter is securedto said bar, and a clamping member including a shank pivoted betweensaid ears and a foot for lateral swinging movements relative to theperimeter of the bending die and nor mally adjacent and just outside ofsaid perimeter to clamp tubing in the groove of said bending die", saidfoot having a transversely beveled inner surface.

ARTHUR J. SHILEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

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